Air distributor



Feb. 7, 1967 Q. R. THOMSON AIR DISTRIBUTOR 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Dec. 31, 1964 INVEN TOR QUENTIN R, THOMSON ATTOPNEY Feb. 7, 1967 Q. R. THOMSON AIR DISTRIBUTOR 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Dec. 31, 1964 FIG .4

INVENTOR QUENTIN R. THOMAS ATTORNEY Feb. 7, 1967 Q. R. THOMSON 3,302,550

AIR DISTRIBUTOR Filed Dec. 51, 1964 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR QUENTIN R. THOMAS BY /QQ 1w ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,302,550 AIR DISTRIBUTOR Quentin R. Thomson, 2804 E. Maivern St., Tucson, Ariz. 85716 Filed Dec. 31, 1964, Ser. No. 422,809 8 Claims. (Cl. 98-40) The present invention relates to an air duct structure and more particularly to a novel air dififuser for delivering cold or warm air into a room.

A primary object of the present invention is to provide, in a ceiling duct for conducting cold or warm air for cooling, heating or ventilating purposes, a flow diverter in the outlet of the duct with means to control the type of air flow emanating from the duct outlet.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a novel arrangement for selectively varying the direction of air discharge by adjustment of deflectors arranged within the diffuser.

A further object of the invention is to provide an air diffuser which is positive in operation, easily installed, more economical to manufacture, and more versatile than prior strip type air ditfusers.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings showing a preferred embodiment of the invention, wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a fragmentary perspective view of the ceiling of a room equipped with an air difiuser embodying the novel features of the present invention.

FIGURE 2 is an exploded perspective view of adjacent sections used in forming the present air diffuser.

FIGURE 3 is a fragmentary face view of the diffuser.

FIGURE 4 is a sectional view taken on the line 44 of FIGURE 1.

FIGURES 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 are diagrammatic views of various arrangements of the deflecting vanes for providing,

various air flow patterns.

FIGURE 10 is a view similar to FIGURE 4 showing a modification of the invention.

FIGURE 11 is a view similar to FIGURE 4 showing a further modification of the invention.

Referring to the drawings in detail wherein like numerals designate like parts throughout the several views, the improved air diffuser or grille 10 is adapted to be set into the ceiling 11 or other wall of a room to receive conditioned air along its length from a supply duct 12 and to distribute streams of air, indicated by arrows in several of the views, through an elongated narrow slot 13.

The air diffuser 10 is made up of a plurality of individual similar sections of pre-formed length adapted to abut each other and be secured together to form a diffuser of desired length. As viewed in FIGURE 1, the diffuser is shown as formed of three sections 14 although it will be apparent that additional sections may be added to increase the length of the diffuser or grille.

Each section 14 comprises a pair of similar elongated bars 15 or generally T-shaped cross-section, uniform throughout their lengths so as to be extrudable from suitable materal such as metal. Each bar 15 comprises a vertical wall 16 having an inturned flange 17 at its upper end, said flange including an upwardly directed short vertical wall 18 adapted to be telescopically received "ice within the exit end of the duct 12. The lower end of the wall 16 terminates in a cross-member 19 forming the T of the bar 15. The member 19 includes a planar flange 20 and a coplanar flange 21 projecting outwardly from the bar 15 to overlap the wall opening 22 in which the diffuser is disposed with a shallow and narrow rib 23 bearing against the Wall.

As seen in FIGURES 2 and 4, two bars 15 are placed back to back and secured together in spaced relationship by suitable spacer elements to provide a restricted passageway for air from the supply duct 12. The spacer elements include tubular elements 24 which in turn house the threaded rods 25 extending through openings provided in the wall 16. A nut 25' completes the securement of the bars 15 in proper spaced relationship. Each section 14 is provided with a pair of rods 25, each adjacent each end of the section 14 to insure a rigid construction. The length of each rod 25 and spacer elements 24 are such as to provide a diffuser section 14 of such width as to telescopically fit within the duct 12. The spacing of the bars 15 as described above, also results in a proper spacing of flanges 20 to provide the slot 13.

The spacer elements 24 and rods 25 also serve as sup port members for the novel vane arrangement of the present invention. The support member for the vanes to be described, consists of an elongated bar 26 having an overall length equal to the length of bar 15 and provided with oppositely extending flanges 27 defining a short upper wall section 28 and a longer lower wall section 29. The upper wall section 28 is provided with suitable openings to receive the rods 25, and the spacer elements 24 hearing against opposite sides of wall 28 and the inside faces of bars 15 produces a rigid mounting of bar 26 equally spaced from bars 15.

The vanes or deflectors 30, 31 comprise a pair of similar elongated bars of a length equal to the length of each section 14. Each of the bars 30, 31 comprises a fiat section 32 and an angular section 33 terminating in a slight hook portion 34; Two vane members 30 and 31 are positioned in face to face relationship against opposite sides of wall section 29 and held in tight frictional engagement with said wall by means of a pair of spring clips 35 which straddle the upper end of bar 26 as clearly shown in FIGURE 4. In the assembled position shown, the combined width of the lower ends of the vanes is slightly greater than the width of the slot 13 and in the lowered position of both vanes, the slot is completely closed. By this arrangement, the vanes are separately movable in a vertical direction and held in place by a leg of the spring clip pressing the vane against the lower vertical wall of the support member 26. The flanges 27 form a stop for the upper movement of the vanes 30 and 31.

The slot 13 extends the full length of each section 14 so as to permit any number of sections to be joined rigidly together in end-to-end abutment so as to lengthen the slot correspondingly. The connection is achieved by short lengths of bars 36 shown in dotted lines in FIG- URE 2, said bars being telescopically received within a channel formed by ribs 37 and 38 formed in member 15.

As seen in FIGURES 1 and 3, a plurality of sections 14 are assembled into a rectangular frame. The end sections may be suitably provided with an angular edge 39 to mate with short lengths of bars 40 fitted with angular edges to form a miter joint 41. Any other suitable arrangement may be employed to form a rectangular frame since this type of arrangement is conventional and forms no part of the present invention.

The volume of air admitted from the duct into the room and the direction of flow into the room are determined by the vertical position of the vanes 30 and 31. As seen in FIGURES 4 and 5, the vanes are in their lowermost position with their lower ends bearing against the flanges 2%. In this position of the vanes there is no flow of air into the room. In FIGURE 6, the vane 31 is in fully lowered position whereas vane 30 is in fully raised position thereby causing air to be directed to the left as viewed in said figure. In FIGURE 7, the vane 30 is in fully lowered position whereas the vane 31 is in fully raised position thereby causing air to be directed to the right as viewed in said figure. In FIGURE 8, both vanes are fully raised thereby directing air generally downwardly. It will be apparent that the vanes need not be fully lowered or fully raised because the spring clips will hold the vanes in any intermediate position thereby making for a wider control of the amount of air being admitted.

Because of the construction of the support member 26 and the novel frictional engagement therewith by the vanes 30 and 31, the air pattern shown in FIGURE 9 can be obtained by raising one end of vane 31 While lowering its other end, and by placing the vane 30 in an opposite angular position as viewed in FIGURE 9, air may be directed in a direction to the right at one end of the grille, downwardly at the center of the grille and to the left at the other end of the grille. Since the vanes of each section may be placed in any desired position independently of the vanes of any other sections, numerous other air discharge patterns may be obtained.

The pattern of air diffusion is generally determined in advance of installation and the vanes may be pre-adjusted accordingly. However, it may be desired to vary the arrangement or position of the vanes after installation or to completely close the grille as indicated in FIGURE 4 of the drawing. In this connection, the hook portion 34 is important in that it allows the installer to adjust the deflectors or vanes after mounting the grille without the use of any special tool or equipment. The adjuster need only reach through the slot 31 with a conventional screw driver or bent section of wire in order to make the desired adjust ment.

While the present invention has been described in connection with a single slot grille, the construction is such as to readily adopt the inventive concept to multiple slot grilles. Thus, referring to the modification disclosed in FIGURE 2, a two slot grille is shown in which the various elements are identical with elements shown and described above and which have the same reference characters, with the exception of partition bar 42 and rod 43.

The bar 42 is generally T-shaped having a vertical wall 44 corresponding to vertical walls 16, and terminating at its lower end in coplanar flanges 45 corresponding to flanges 29 thereby forming a pair of slots 31. The rod 43 differs from rod 25 merely in length to accommodate the width of the two-slot grille. The adjustment of the vanes is made in the same manner as the first modification and in view of the additional vanes, it will be apparent that additional air patterns are available.

The modification shown in FIGURE 11 is similar to the form shown in FIGURE except that this view discloses a three-slot grille. All of the parts shown are the same as the parts shown in FIGURE 10 except for the length of the rod 46 which must be made longer to accommodate the extra width of the grille. Instead of using a single partition bar 42, two partition bars are used to provide an additional slot 31. It will also be readily apparent that grilles with more than three slots may be constructed by merely adding additional bars 42.

It will be apparent that the present diffuser is extremely versatile and easily adaptable to the many different conditions encountered in service use. Most of the adjustments are made to the position of the vanes before the initial installation, but due to the simplicity of the present construction, changes in the adjustment may be readily made after the grille is installed.

\Vhile the foregoing description has illustrated and described a preferred embodiment of the invention, it will be clear that minor changes may be made in the details of construction without departing from the spirit of the invention except as may be required by the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is:

1. An air distributor having in combination, parallel walls laterally spaced apart and defining the sides of an elongated passage adapted for the flow of air through said passage, each of said parallel walls having an inwardly directed wall the inner edges of which are spaced apart to form a slot for the passage of air therethrough, an intermediate wall held in spaced relationship to said parallel walls and terminating above said inwardly directed walls, said intermediate wall forming a support for a pair of individually, vertically slidable vane members, and means for supporting said vane members in vertically adjusted positions, said vane members adapted to bear against said inwardly directed walls when in fully lowered position to prevent flow of air through said slot.

2. An air distributor as defined in claim 1, said means comprising a clip member straddling the upper end of said intermediate wall and having spring legs for holding said vane members in frictional engagement with said intermediate wall.

3. An air distributor as defined in claim 2, and flanges formed on the intermediate wall for limiting upper move ment of said vane members.

4. An air distributor comprising parallel walls spaced apart and defining the sides of an elongated passage adapted for the flow of air through said passage, each of said parallel walls having an inwardly directed flange the inner edges of which are spaced apart to form a slot for the passage of air therethrough, an intermediate wall held in spaced relationship to said parallel walls and terminating above said inwardly directed flanges, a pair of similar vane members, each of said vane members having a portion thereof in sliding frictional engagement with opposite faces of said intermediate wall, means for holding said vanes in sliding engagement with said intermediate wall but permitting vertical movement of each of said vanes, each of said vane members adapted to bear against said flanges when in fully lowered position.

5. An air distributor as defined in claim 4, and flanges formed on the intermediate wall for limiting upper movement of said vane members.

6. An air distributor as defined in claim 5, said means comprising a spring clip for frictionally holding the vane members against the intermediate support wall.

7. An air distributor having in combination, parallel walls laterally spaced apart and defining the sides of an elongated passage adapted for the flow of air through said passage, each of said parallel walls having an inwardly directed wall the inner edges of which are spaced apart to form a slot for the passage of air therethrough, an intermediate wall held in spaced relationship to said parallel walls and terminating above said inwardly directed walls, said intermediate wall forming a support for a pair of individually, vertical slidable vane members, and means for supporting said vane members in vertically adjusted positions, said vane members adapted to bear against said inwardly directed walls when in lowermost position to prevent flow of air through said slot, each of said vane members having an inwardly directed hook portion for receiving a tool for vertical movement of said vane members.

8. An air distributor having in combination a plurality of laterally spaced parallel walls, each pair of adjacent walls defining the sides of an elongated passage adapted for the flow of air through said passage, each of said adjacent Walls having an inwardly directed Wall the inner edges of which are spaced apart to form a slot for the passage of air therethrough, an intermediate Wall held in spaced relationship to said adjacent walls and terminating above said inwardly directed Walls, said intermediate Wall forming a support for a pair of individually, vertically slidable vane members, and means for supporting said vane members in vertically adjusted positions, said vane members UNITED STATES PATENTS 3/1964 Kennedy 9840 5/1966 Lambert 9840 ROBERT A. OLEARY, Primary Examiner.

adapted to bear against said inwardly directed Walls when 10 W. E. WAYNER, Assistant Examiner. 

1. AN AIR DISTRIBUTOR HAVING IN COMBINATION, PARALLEL WALLS LATERALLY SPACED APART AND DEFINING THE SIDES OF AN ELONGATED PASSAGE ADAPTED FOR THE FLOW OF AIR THROUGH SAID PASSAGE, EACH OF SAID PARALLEL WALLS HAVING AN INWARDLPY DIRECTED WALL THE INNER EDGES OF WHICH ARE SPACED APART TO FORM A SLOT FOR THE PASSAGE OF AIR THERETHROUGH, AN INTERMEDIATE WALL HELD IN SPACED RELATIONSHIP TO SAID PARALLEL WALLS AND TERMINATING ABOVE SAID INWARDLY DIRECTED WALLS, SAID INTERMEDIATE WALL FORMING A SUPPORT FOR A PAIR OF INDIVIDUALLY, VERTICALLY SLIDABLE VANE MEMBERS, AND MEANS FOR SUPPORTING SAID VANE MEMBERS IN VERTICALLY ADJUSTED POSITIONS, SAID VANE MEMBERS ADAPTED TO BEAR AGAINST SAID INWARDLY DIRECTED WALLS WHEN IN FULLY LOWERED POSITION TO PREVENT FLOW OF AIR THROUGH SAID SLOT. 